OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 



445 



hour's labour extricated it. When reloaded it overset and I was almost 

 tempted to abandon it, for I saw how impossible it was for even an unloaded <*>ir 

 man to climb the snow-covered and steep mountains west of us. I howeve r 

 resolved at last on returning to the Ioav land, and by tracking along the foot 

 of the hills, lookout for the first opening to the westward. .Seven hours' 

 travelling over the plain brought us to the foot of a mountain which I had 

 observed to bear about S.E., and here we tented. 



ff A heavy snow-gale confined us to the tent during the 12th and 13th, and 12. & 13. 

 a part of the 14th, a few minutes' sun at noon on the 13th, (the first time we 

 had seen it since leaving Captain Parry,) gave me an opportunity of obtain- 

 ing the meridian altitude, and on the 14th by sights for the chronometer, I 

 obtained the longitude. Lat. 69° 15' 6" long., 1° 11' 30" W. of Hecla. 



" At five P.M. on the 14th, we proceeded in a south-easterly direction 14.. 

 along the foot of the rocky hills. On the snow which was very soft we 

 saw a bear's track, and on a patch of shingle found several sea-shells. 

 Five hours' travelling brought us to the end of the chain of hills, and from 

 this point we saw the ship with a glass about N.E., twenty miles. I had 

 for some time suspected that we had taken the wrong route, as no Es- 

 quimaux could have passed with a sledge over the mountains at whose 

 feet we had been travelling ; I had however better hopes at this place by 

 seeing the hills become lower and trend to the south-westward, which an- 

 swered in a great measure with the Esquimaux description of the land they 

 passed over. At the foot of this point lay a narrow lake of about three 

 miles in length, and near it was a small but deep craggy ravine. On the 

 shingle ridges we saw several Esquimaux circles, and a golden plover passed 

 us on the wing. Travelling hence about three miles southerly we tented on 

 the snow, the wind being at N.W., and the night extremely cold. 



" The morning of the 15th was thick and cold and the N.W. wind was 15 

 unabated. Soon after noon we proceeded in a westerly direction but with- 

 out having any fixed object to guide us. In this manner we travelled for two 

 hours, when the weather clearing we saw the hills turning to the southward, 

 to which direction we altered our course ; and having gone forward for two 

 hours more, tented on the snow for a short time as two of the dogs were so 

 fatigued as to be scarcely able to walk. In fact, the whole of them were much 

 distressed, for they were unaccustomed to land travelling, and the depth 

 of the snow always caused the sledge to hang as a dead weight. At nine 

 P.M., having rested, we proceeded and travelled until one A.M. on the 



